The Battle of Ambleve ( lat.bataille de l'Amblève ) - a battle held in April 716 on the River Ambleve (modern Amel ), in which the Franks led by the mayor of Australia Karl Martell defeated the Franco- Frisian army led by Mayor Ragenfredod the King . One of the events of the in the Frankish state of 714-719.
| The Battle of Ambleve | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Conflict: Civil War in the Frankish State (714–719) | |||
 Frankish state in 714 | |||
| date | April 716 | ||
| A place | Amblev River (modern Amel ) | ||
| Cause | power struggle in the Frankish state | ||
| Total | victory of the Australians | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Losses | |||
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Content
Historical Sources
The battle of Amblev has been reported in a number of medieval historical sources . The most detailed evidence is contained in the Frankish annals , such as The Book of the History of the Franks , the chronicle of the Continuers of Fredegar , The Early Metz Annals , and Annals of Petau [1] [2] [3] .
Background
After the death of Mayordom Pipin Geristalsky in December 714, a struggle for power began between representatives of various groups of the Frankish nobility. Descendants of the deceased, first six-year-old grandson Theodoald , who was under the tutelage of his grandmother Plectruda , presented their claims to the post of mayor of the entire Frankish state, and after the defeat of the Australians in the battle of Compiegne in 715, Karl Martell, son of Pipin Geristalsky and the rival Alpaida . Their rival was the representative of the nobility of Neustria and Burgundy, Ragenfred, who was supported by the kings of the Merovingian dynasty , Dagobert III and Chilperic II . Ragenfred also managed to conclude an alliance with the ruler of the Frisians, Radbod, a long-standing enemy of the deceased Mayordom [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] .
Soon after the death of Pepin of Geristal, the clashes between the Franks developed into an armed conflict, known as the Third Civil War in the Frankish State [8] .
The year after the defeat near Compiegne, the Australians were again defeated: in the battle of Cologne, the allies of Ragenfred, the friezes of King Radbod, defeated the army led by Karl Martell. After that, the Austrian army was forced to retreat to the inaccessible Eifel Mountains [4] [5] [6] .
Battle
Having concluded an agreement with the Plectrude, Ragenfred and Radbod in April 716 retreated from Cologne and headed to Maastricht , where the possessions of the Alpaida family, the mother of Karl Martell, were located. Considering the Austrian army to be completely destroyed, the Allies did not take any security measures, and until the last moment did not know that Karl Martell’s army also followed. Such carelessness allowed the Australians to carry out an unexpected attack on the camp of their opponents, defeated by those on the banks of the river Amblev [5] [6] [9] [10] .
At noon, attacking with a small part of the soldiers at the camp of Ragenfred and Radbod, Karl Martell feigned flight lured the rushing to pursue his enemies in a prepared ambush. Despite the numerical superiority, in the battle that took place, the Neustrians and Friezes suffered, according to the Continuators of Fredegar, a “terrible defeat”. Many soldiers from the troops of Ragenfred and Radbod fell on the field, and they themselves managed to escape with difficulty [5] [6] [9] .
Consequences
The Battle of Ambleve is the first of Karl Martell's victories, which allowed him to regain his position in Australia, which were shaken after the defeat at Cologne. The heavy losses suffered by the Neustrians and Frisians forced Radbod to abandon further participation in the Frankish internecine wars [5] [6] [9] .
In the years 717-719, Karl Martell inflicted two more defeats on Ragenfred, defeating the army of the Neustrian mayordom in the battles of Vinci and Suasson . Thus, the Third Civil War in the Frankish state ended with the complete victory of Karl Martell [4] [5] [8] .
Notes
- ↑ Book of the History of Franks (chapter 52); Continuators of Fredegar (chapter 9); The Early Metz Annals (year 716).
- ↑ Wood I. The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751 . - London & New York: Longman , 1994 .-- P. 267. - ISBN 0-582-49372-2 .
- ↑ Holland & Frisia . Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Date accessed August 26, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Lebek S. Origin of the Franks. V — IX centuries. - M .: Scarab, 1993 .-- S. 214–217. - ISBN 5-86507-022-3 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Devioss J., Rua J.-A. Battle of Poitiers (October 733). - SPb. : Eurasia , 2003 .-- S. 127-140. - ISBN 5-8071-0132-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Bachrach B. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire . - Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. - P. 19-20. - ISBN 0-8122-3533-9 .
- ↑ Costambeys M., Innes M., MacLean S. The Carolingian World . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 2011 .-- P. 43.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Philips Ch., Axelrod A. Encyclopedia of Wars . - New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. - Vol. 1. - P. 470-471. - ISBN 0-8160-2852-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 Bachrach B. Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751 . - Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1992. - P. 100. - ISBN 0-81660-621-8 .
- ↑ Collins R. Early Mediaeval Europe, 300-1000 . - London: Macmillan , 1991 .-- P. 247. - ISBN 0-333-36824-X .
Literature
- Alfan L. Barbara. From the Great Migration to the Turkic Conquests of the 11th Century. - SPb. : Eurasia, 2003 .-- S. 155-156. - ISBN 5-8071-0135-9 .
- Semmler J. Zur pippinidisch-karolingischen Sukzessionskrise 714-723 // Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters . - 1977. - Bd. 33. - S. 1-36.
- Jaques T. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. - Westport, Connecticut - London: Greenwood Press , 2007 .-- P. 44. - ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5 .